Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 668
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 3 Episode 138
45. Departure (3)
“Ugh… It’s not that the pressure difference is keeping it closed, right? It’s just not opening!?”
Chiseung shoots a glare at Mool Mandu, his expression thoroughly annoyed.
“No. Actually, you’re right.”
Gob Spear, another Think Tank member sitting beside her, was already turning his head toward the corridor to stifle his laughter.
I never expected this lie to be taken so seriously and repeated like this.
Well, technically speaking, it wasn’t even a lie.
“It’s the pressure difference that’s keeping it closed.”
After all, the reason airplane windows can’t be opened really is because of the pressure difference.
“No. You said it opens once we’re up in the air, right? So why won’t it open now?”
“The pressure difference must be especially bad today~ Bad luck~”
Pfft.
Gob Spear, who had his face sticking out into the corridor, was practically choking now. At least the flight to Japan has no in-flight meal service, so that’s a relief.
“You… Should I ask the flight attendant? Huh? We’d both be embarrassed then.”
“Go ahead. Whatever.”
The fake national team production crew apparently thought this was good broadcast material, as they were subtly zooming in their cameras from the opposite seats.
“Sigh.”
Chiseung, apparently at his wit’s end, suddenly raised his hand as a flight attendant passed by.
“Um, um…”
Chiseung’s voice grew smaller despite his bold gesture.
“The, window…”
The flight attendant nonetheless smiled brightly and nodded.
“Yes. Is there something wrong with the window?”
“The reason the window won’t open…! Is it, is it because of the pressure difference!?”
“?”
The flight attendant tilted her head in slight confusion, then answered with a bright smile like an elementary school science teacher.
“Yes, sir. The pressure difference is indeed the reason. If you feel stuffy, would you like some carbonated water? Would that be alright?”
“Ah… No, carbonated water is fine. Thank you.”
“Have a pleasant trip.”
As the flight attendant disappeared with clicking footsteps.
Mool Mandu beside him was holding his breath with a contorted expression.
He was trying to suppress his laughter, but to Chiseung’s eyes, it looked like anger.
“…Sorry. I doubted you.”
“Huh… huh…”
Mandoo could no longer hold back, and laughter began pouring out.
“Hehehehe…!? Puhaha!?”
If this weren’t on an airplane, he probably would have laughed much louder.
“Geez. Stop messing with me. Man. You’re going to wipe out Chiseung’s entire bloodline.”
Tsk tsk.
Pangeo behind him clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Yet Chiseung remained bewildered.
Pangeo shook his head.
“Sigh.”
He exhaled—whether out of pity for Chiseung or exasperation, who could say—and leaned back against the headrest once more.
Then he glanced sideways at Sanghyeon and asked.
“…Did you have a nightmare or something?”
“?”
When Sanghyeon looked at him questioningly, Pangeo pointed at his eyes and drew a long line downward.
“I think I might have had a dream….”
But I couldn’t remember it.
I certainly had no idea why tears had fallen.
I tilted my head and made a guess.
“…Could it be the pressure change?”
“Sigh. You too with the pressure change?”
Pangeo exhaled and turned his head toward the corridor, closing his eyes again.
“We’re landing now anyway.”
“Five minutes is precious~”
* * *
Shortly after, the plane arrived in Japan and descended.
As the wheels touched the ground, everyone was grateful beyond measure that this entire row consisted of people related to the international competition—watching Chiseung make such a fuss.
Thud──
“Eeeeeek?!”
Without thinking, Chiseung grabbed Mandoo’s arm tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.
──Whirrrrrrr.
Soon the plane, which had been racing down the runway for a while, gradually slowed to a speed even slower than a car.
It gently turned its nose and aligned itself with the platform.
Ding.
The moment the signal to unbuckle seatbelts sounded, the athletes stood one by one and gathered their luggage.
Since the entire row consisted of staff, there was none of the chaos of luggage tumbling down as people rushed to exit first.
“Ah. Even though it’s just a plane, it’s nice using it all together like this.”
Pangeo stretched and shouted.
“Let’s go! Japan! Itadakimasu~~!”
Sanghyeon barely knew Japanese, but I knew that wasn’t a greeting you gave when meeting someone.
‘Isn’t that something you say after eating?’
I decided to interpret it roughly as meaning he’d devour Japan.
When Sanghyeon didn’t respond, Pangeo continued spouting broken Japanese to elicit a reaction.
“Muzukashii hamudai! Ikimasu!”
But for some reason, Sanghyeon didn’t want to respond and said nothing.
“Almond! Honestly, you’re so cool~”
Pangeo continued to chatter away annoyingly.
But it was meaningless against the emotional indifference honed by archery training.
It was like a clown performing tricks before a sage.
“Hoo… You’re holding up? I’ll multiply your shame by 500…!”
Contrary to his boast about amplifying the embarrassment fivefold, Sanghyeon ultimately walked through the immigration gate with the same expression as before.
“Okay. I lost.”
Worried he might get filtered out at the immigration gate if he continued, Pangeo raised both arms in surrender.
“No need to worry about your mental state. Right. This was all a test. Soldier. You’ve passed.”
Even at those words, Sanghyeon simply passed through the checkpoint in silence.
“Wow…”
When Pangeo genuinely gave up and shook his head, only then did Sanghyeon let out a small chuckle.
“Huh? You laughed! You did laugh!?”
That’s when he stepped into the immigration gate.
“Almond!”
Wait. Was he still not giving up? Sanghyeon momentarily thought Pangeo’s playfulness had activated again.
“Almond!”
“Waaaaaah!”
This cheering was coming from inside the immigration gate.
‘What?’
He hadn’t expected cheers at the departure gate either, so he never imagined receiving such an ovation in a foreign country like Japan.
“Almond!!!”
“Oppa!”
People waving signs in broken Korean were greeting him.
“Wow. Almond’s popularity is insane.”
Pangeo followed alongside and clicked his tongue in amazement.
Meanwhile, Sanghyeon was bewildered.
‘Why do so many people in Japan know about me?’
A stranger would simply think ‘Almond is popular in Japan too’ and move on.
But Sanghyeon knew well that Almond hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy for Japanese people to recognize.
He’d never accessed the Japan server, and even on AllTube, there weren’t many Japanese comments.
He had some recognition in the Western sphere thanks to clearing Reina’s story mode and meeting Jessi.
…But Japan?
Honestly, Japan was just a memory of being used as a sacrificial lamb for a conceptual title.
Something about the world praising and Japan being shocked…
‘What on earth is this?’
So Sanghyeon felt even more confused.
He hadn’t even chosen the title himself, yet he felt oddly apologetic about it.
In any case, he waved his hand and exchanged greetings with them.
Looking at them, they weren’t Korean expatriates—they were actual Japanese people.
It seemed like everyone across the nation who knew Almond had shown up. While Sanghyeon was thinking this.
Pangeo pointed toward something.
“We’re over there.”
A person holding a large sign was enthusiastically waving it in their direction.
[National Team Korea! Welcome!]
* * *
Several buses were prepared.
Probably provided by the game company, they were plastered with large Civil Empire posters.
Though they were seat buses, there were no assigned seats, so teams mixed together here and there.
Sanghyeon only realized the bus wasn’t carrying just the Korean team when he and Pangeo were about to take their seats.
“Go ahead and sit first.”
“Okay.”
Just as Sanghyeon slid into the window seat and Pangeo was about to sit down, someone suddenly took his seat first.
“Dibs!”
A red-haired woman was sitting there with a playful smile.
“Sorry~ my seat.”
“???”
Pangeo was bewildered by the absurdity, but Sanghyeon looked even more startled.
“Jessi…?”
“Hey~! Almond! wow! what a coincidence?! good to see you again.”
She acted surprised as if they’d met by chance, exclaiming that Almond was here.
Watching the red-haired foreigner chatter away so excitedly, it felt exactly like those teen sitcoms from childhood.
Her acting was obvious.
“What, what is this? Who is this person?”
Faced with this audacious red-haired foreigner, Pangeo could only gesture with his hand asking ‘Do you know her?’
“Uh… yes. Well, I do.”
When Sanghyeon nodded, Pangeo simply went to find another seat.
“Ugh. The life of an extrovert is exhausting.”
Pangeo sat in an empty seat behind and muttered continuously.
“I’m not an extrovert because I’m tired. I chose to be an introvert. Yeah. That’s how it is.”
Jessi completely ignored him since she wouldn’t understand his words anyway, rummaging through her bag.
She connected her phone to some device and tested the microphone.
“Ah. Ah. Can you hear me? Is this translation correct?”
“Yep.”
“Seems right. Thank goodness. Anyway! How can such a coincidence happen. Ha. Ha. Ha.”
Because Jessi’s voice was reconstructed by the machine, it sounded even more shameless.
“Jessi. Did you know I was coming?”
“Of course. I watched your matches too. Our whole team cheered for you throughout.”
“Wow. Thanks. I’m happy.”
“I’ll let the team know.”
For some reason, Sanghyeon found himself speaking in the same stiff, awkward tone.
From behind, I could hear Pangeo stifling a laugh.
“But it’s probably not just our team. Joseon making it this far is a global issue.”
“Global? To that extent?”
“Yeah. Spain and France are out. You did great. Fist bump~”
Jessi raised her fist.
Sanghyeon naturally bumped his fist against hers without hesitation.
Thud.
“Yay~ Congratulations! It feels like just yesterday you were an adorable rookie~”
As she excitedly reminisced about when they first met, shaking her head, the bus began to slowly depart.
Vroooom.
On the way, I exchanged various stories with Jessi.
We caught up on what we’d been doing, and she asked if I’d played Zombie School since then.
“Oh. I did. You?”
“I haven’t yet… I have too many other games to play.”
“Other games to play? Oh. You’re a streamer! Because you’re a streamer!”
“Yeah. Because I’m a streamer.”
It felt like the first time I’d ever said “because I’m a streamer” out loud, and Sanghyeon felt oddly embarrassed.
“So… you’re on the Denmark team, right?”
“That’s right. We’re Vikings.”
That was true. Denmark was a Viking civilization.
Norway could also choose the Viking civilization, but the one that made it through this time was indeed Jessi’s country—Denmark’s Vikings.
“We came in 1st in our group. We might meet again soon?”
The 1st place team in a group faces the 2nd place team.
Joseon is 2nd place, and Vikings are 1st place.
The chances of meeting were high.
“Here we are. See you at the announcement tomorrow.”
Jessi quickly got off as soon as the bus arrived.
The announcement probably referred to the bracket announcement.
“Thanks, mister in the back!”
She hadn’t forgotten about Pangeo.
“…Wow. I’d rather you didn’t say that.”
Pangeo played sad music on his phone.
“?”
“I just turned it on. Look at the writers’ expressions over there. I think they’re already recording.”
“…Ah.”
The fake national team’s camera was right beside us.
Sanghyeon hadn’t noticed.
It felt like a rather embarrassing scene might have been captured on film.
“By the way, are you filming a vlog today? You know, that thing those influencers do?”
“Ah….”
That’s right.
Since I couldn’t stream games while in Japan, I had mentioned trying to film something like a vlog.
“What are you filming? Want help? We’re in the same room anyway.”
“Hmm….”
“What’s with the hmm? Haven’t you decided yet?”
“….”
Pangeo thought for a moment before asking.
“How about a mukbang?”
“A mukbang?”
“We have to eat anyway. Is there anything you wanted to try? I come to Osaka often, so I know the place.”
I wasn’t very confident about eating.
Given my circumstances, the desire for food was probably the first thing I had to abandon.
「Sanghyeon, Grandmother’s going to the market. Is there anything you want to eat?」
「I don’t really like eating much.」
Because of that, I didn’t know much about food, nor did I have any particular opinions about it.
The only special meal I ate was the old-fashioned whole chicken in front of my house….
“Hmm….”
For some reason.
At that moment, the image of someone’s sleek hair suddenly flashed through my mind.
* * *
The night of arrival in Japan.
It was probably around evening.
A stream started on Almond’s Twitch channel.
With this title.
[Vlog ep.1) Almond vs Takoyaki]
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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